Aya Takano

(Japanese, born 1976)

Aya Takano is a contemporary Japanese artist best known for her involvement with the aesthetics of the Superflat movement and manga art. Takano’s work is recognized for its use of sexually empowering images of women, animals, and often surreal mythology, creating a loose narrative of her artistic persona. Her work is part of a Postmodern tradition in Japan that appropriates popular art forms, using them to represent critical perspectives on Japanese contemporary life. Like Chiho Aoshima and Yoshitomo Nara, Takano’s oeuvre is an example of how artists have developed new modes of expression within Japanese visual culture. Born on December 22, 1976 in Saitama, Japan, she studied at Tama Art University in Tokyo before going to work as an assistant for the artist Takashi Murakami, the founder of the Superflat art movement. Her works are in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, among others. Takano lives and works between Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan.